


Challenge Accepted (or the pole licking incident)

by starkspangledlover



Series: 52 short stories in 52 weeks [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, First Meetings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-26
Updated: 2016-01-26
Packaged: 2018-05-16 10:38:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5825344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkspangledlover/pseuds/starkspangledlover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve Rogers never backed down from a good challenge. This, surprise surprise, often gets him into trouble. Good thing he has some great friends who would never take advantage of that for their own amusement.</p><p>Oh wait.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Challenge Accepted (or the pole licking incident)

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2 of the 52 stories in 52 weeks challenge.
> 
> #2: A story about rising to a challenge
> 
> EDIT (2016/2/10) Removed a repeated phrases.  
> EDIT (2016/4/15) like -> lick

Steve Rogers never backed down from a good challenge.

He was an adrenaline junkie and disliked losing. It had gotten him into a lot of trouble in his life and a few broken bones. One time in elementary school, Bucky had double dog dared him to jump into the pool from atop the rec building (there was only about three feet between the roof’s edge and the pool). Bucky had been awe struck, as had the other kids and their teacher. The life guard had to save him from drowning because he didn’t know how to swim yet (it was their first swimming class) but Bucky had called him the craziest person he’d ever met so it was a win in his book. When he got home, Mama Rogers had given him a fierce talking to but he and Bucky had been inseparable ever since.

Now the two of them were attending college, Bucky at MIT studying mechanical engineering and Steve at Boston University studying art. It was winter of their freshman year and Steve had ridden his old Harley to meet his best friend after his class. He sat on a bench in the academic quad watching the snow fall.

A spry brunette caught his attention at the other end of the quad. The shorter man (Steve was over six feet so most people were shorter than him) seemed to be building an igloo around a large device that looked vaguely like a boom box with a very long vuvuzela attached to it. A (remote control?) robotic arm with a shovel attached to the end seemed to be trying to help (troll?) his human companion by scooping up snow and dumping it on his head. Steve laughed. There was an indignant squawk each time the robot did this and a spat of yelling before they returned to building their fort. It was a bit like watching a Looney Tunes cartoon if he was honest.

Not long after, Steve caught sight of his dark haired friend among the throng of students exiting a nearby building. He waved and Bucky made a bee line to him.

“Sup punk,” his best friend greeted him. The engineering student was wrapped in a dark hoodie with his hair in a messy ponytail, book bag slung over one shoulder. He sneezed.

“Thought engineers knew how to stay warm,” Steve grinned as he stood and hugged him.

“Never was that good of an engineer,” he replied as he snuck his ice cold hands up the artist’s jacket. Steve yelped and smacked his friend in the shoulder but didn’t move away.

“Asshole.”

“You love me.”

The blonde rolled his eyes but there was a smile pulling at one side of his lips. “We should get inside, you heat vampire.”

They shuffled their way to the school café, past the nearly finished igloo (the student was nowhere to be seen but his robot buddy was actually doing work), to meet up with their friends. Natasha greeted them at the entrance, giving her boyfriend a peck on the lips once he had disentangled himself from his blonde best friend. Peggy and Clint waved at them from their lunch table.

“There’s no way,” Clint chortled a while later as he balanced his chair on two legs, Natasha to his left perilously close to pushing him over. “That Mr. Roger’s neighborhood over here snuck into a high end New York fashion show, got mistaken for a _real_ model and walked down the catwalk before being caught backstage all for a dare.”

“That was right after puberty hit you like a freight train, wasn’t it?” Bucky mused, one hand intertwined with Natasha’s across the table after he sat down with their orders. “Peggy did your makeup to cover up your acne and we found you those really tight pants to wear.”

Steve felt his face heat when he remembered the _other_ stuff he had done that week to get ready, including shaving his legs and watching videos about how to walk in heels. It was one of the most involved stunts he had ever pulled, but it was worth every moment for the look on everyone’s face.

“It’s on the internet. I’ve shown it to you before, Clint.” Natasha said with one eyebrow raised. The blonde man in a ridiculous purple muscle shirt waved her off.

“Evidence-schmevidence, I’m interested in the _dare_ part not the catwalk. We all know Steve is an Adonis.” he said. Steve sank even further into his seat, pushing his cold French fries around his empty plate.

“It’s true,” agreed Bucky. Peggy and Natasha both assented as well. There was a lump of blonde hair and blue sweater slowly dissolving in his own embarrassment where said blonde Adonis used to be.

“Can we not talk about me, please?” he pleaded. Peggy, who was next to him, patted his head affectionately.

“We could, but this is too much fun,” she said with a pitiless but affectionate smile. It was rather like a shark petting its prey. The blue and yellow lump sighed.

“How much would it take to get him to lick that pole?” Clint asked, pointing to the thin silver rod sticking out of the finished igloo. The metal shovel arm was nowhere to be seen.

“No dice,” said Steve. “I’m not falling for that.”

“Aw, c’mon Steve,” Clint nearly begged. “The metal isn’t thick enough to really freeze your tongue to it. Just a good old fashioned dare. You won’t even get stuck.”

“No.”

“Clint’s right, the metal will heat up within seconds of contact,” Peggy chimed in. “No harm done.”

“Unless he’s too chicken.”

Steve raised his head and glared straight at Natasha. She stared back at him impassively.

“I’m being rational, not chicken.” He tried to reason. Clint just started to make chicken noises and Peggy and Bucky pounding the table and started chanting ‘chic-ken-chic-ken’ to the beat.

“Fine!” he relented. He stomped off, leaving his cheering friends behind him.

He grumpily trudged through the soft snow toward the igloo. It was as high as his waist and the metal pole was protruding from the middle of it. He flipped off his still cheering friends, which did nothing but encourage them, stuck out his pink tongue and licked the pole. It was, well, like licking a cold metal pole. He felt his tongue go a little numb.

Raucous cheering erupted behind him. Steve pulled away, task complete when-

_Oh fuck._

His tongue was stuck hard and fast to the pole.

“ _(You fuckers!)”_ He tried to say with his tongue frozen in place. Howls of laughter that could only be Clint erupted behind him.

“You’re the best, Steve!” he gasped between peals of laughter. “I can't believe you actually licked it.”

Steve briefly wondered who made the igloo and how mad they’d be when he heard a camera shutter snap to his left. He glared as best he could at the two ladies taking a selfie with him in the background. He had no doubt that in an hour his face would be all over his friend’s feeds.

 _“(You all suck. I hate you guys.)”_ This just made Clint laugh more. Steve sighed.

A firm hand grasped his shoulder. Steve glanced up to see Bucky’s face pinched in an effort not to laugh, shoulders shaking. Steven was going to _hurt_ them.

“ _(Get me off this thing!)”_ He growled, arms flailing a bit in their effort to stay upright and not fall into the nice igloo. His tongue was stuck fast and it hurt to pull.

“Hey! What are you doing to my igloo?!” came a loud holler from his right.

He heard Clint curse and Peggy tell them they needed to leave and a quick retreat of footsteps as another pair approached from the opposite direction.

“I said, what are you doing?” he heard a male voice say. Steve did his best to shuffle his feet and look at the new stranger.

And then he caught sight of the stranger’s face and – _shitfuck-_ it was Hot Engineer.

Steve ducked his head, hoping to hide his blush racing up his pale skin. _Oh God, it was Hot Engineer_ , the MIT student who Steve occasionally saw on campus with gorgeous hair, large amber eyes, and a manic energy that he wanted to capture on paper. He may or may have not had a massive crush on him since he’d first seen him while visiting Bucky. He’d bet his bike that this dare had been his friend’s attempt at being his wingman. He cursed them and their meddling silently. This was _not_ how he wanted to make his first impression.

“Oh my-Are you _stuck_?” Hot Engineer asked. Steve felt his face flush even hotter but he did his best to nod.

There was a loud snort to his right. He glared at Hot Engineer, crush or no crush, _rude._

“Oh my GOD, you are!” he crowed, nearly doubled over with laughter.

“ _(Haha, very funny.)”_ Steve mumbled. _“(Help, please?)”_

It was a long few minutes while Hot Engineer tried his best to catch his breath, instead catching sight of Steve, and laughing all over again. Steve supposed this was his due for letting himself be so easily goaded into this in the first place.

“Hmm….” Hot Engineer said after he had calmed down. “I dunno. You make a very hot weather vane.”

Steve felt like he might burst from the inside out with how much blood was rushing to his face.

“Loving the blush, but it is getting colder and your friends seem to have disappeared.” He felt an icy hand under his jaw, slightly tilting his face towards Hot Engineer. Steve tried his best to calm his racing heart, hopefully he wouldn't feel his quick pulse.

“Hope you like coffee,” was the only warning he got before he felt nearly scalding black coffee dribbled onto his tongue and down the pole. It only took a few seconds before he was set free. The blonde stumbled back a bit.

“Fank you,” he said from behind his hand. His tongue was a little burnt but that was a sight better than being stuck till his friends deigned to show up.

“Hey,” said Hot Engineer as he peered up at his face, close enough for him to see the individual lashes around his amber eyes. “Aren’t you that hottie that snuck into that fashion week two years ago?”

Steve slowly nodded. Hot Engineer’s face split into a truly devilish smile.

“I knew it! I’d never forget that face,” the MIT student said with a rakish once over of Steve as he recapped his thermos. “Or that ass. So what’s a guy like you doing licking my pole?”

The blush that had receded returned with full force. Just the _thought_ of licking that particular part of Hot Engineer got him hot under the collar.

“It wasn’t what-I mean-uh-My knucklehead friends dared me,” Steve explained in a rush.

“Ever heard of ‘Just say no’? Wasn’t there a whole song or something?”

“Pretty sure that song was about drugs,” he smiled. “And I’ve never met a challenge I couldn’t win. It’s a, uh, thing for me.”

Hot Engineer’s eyes seemed to twinkle with amusement (he hoped). “Any challenge?”

“I’m not sneaking into another fashion show,” he said flatly. “Or licking your machine again.”

Hot Engineer barked out a laugh. Steve felt his heart jump at that. He loved seeing the other man’s face light up like that.

“And if you were dared to lick a different pole?” he leered.

“Long as it wasn’t another frozen metal one, I’d consider it,” Steve said diplomatically. “But I think my tongue has had enough abuse for now.”

“That’s a shame,” said Hot Engineer. “I suppose I’ll have to think of something else.”

Hot Engineer tapped a finger on his chin. “What if I dared you to come with me to dinner tonight?”

“Yes,” the artist nearly barked, ears burning. He knew he sounded overeager but _oh my god yes please_. “I know a great Italian place nearby. Meet you tonight at 8 in front of the cafeteria?”

“It’s a date,” Hot Engineer said. “And what’s the name of my date for tonight?”

“Steve Rogers. And yours?” he said, sticking out his hand.

Hot Engineer clammed up a bit. He seemed to be looking for something in his face (on his face? Hopefully not). Steve worried that he’d somehow blown his chances when Hot Engineer clasped his hand in a strong handshake.

“Tony Stark. Nice to meet you, Steve,” said Tony. Steve felt his mouth pull into a ridiculously big smile.

“Nice to meet you too, Tony.”

They parted ways, Tony into his igloo and Steve to find his meddling friends. Steve felt like he was walking on air the whole way back to the café.

And if, later that evening, he showed off his pole licking skills again, well, that was between the two of them.


End file.
